Compass Room
Within the very heart of the city lies the Compass Room; the city's large and cryptic navigational center. Appearance The enormous, circular room itself is located in the very center of the Citadel's main hall. The outter walls of the Compass Room is composed of low relief sculptures which span the entire circumference, romantically illustrating the story of the republics segregation from the dying empire. The sculptures make a grand center piece and is the very first sight visitors and newcomers behold upon first entering the Citadel. The Compass Room is strictly closed off to public. The inside is lit solely by a light which illuminates an enourmous stained glass globe that spans to nearly the full entierty of the ceiling. Only the bottom half of the globe can be seen in the room at any given time, and rotates according to the current coordinates of the republic. The top half of the globe can be veiwed from outside the Citadel, through a large glass dome which makes up the center structure's roof. The room gets its name primarily from the large directional compass which spans the entire surface of the floor. It's protected by solid glass, and points to the direction the bridge is traveling. In the very center sits the control panel which is sunken roughly seven feet beneath ground level, and crowned with a shrine to the four armed humanoid representation/Goddess of Pontis. Functionality Traditionally, it was the Navigational Pillar's task to run the Compass Room with the help of a hand picked team of trained men. The Pillar was also responsible for studying and maintaining the archives which contained important documentation not only on how to work the technology within the Compass Room, but on how to maintain it. The Pillar's entire life would be dedicated to understanding and memorizing much of the content within those documents in order to effectively navigate the republic and ensure that her 'heart' is running smoothly. Aside from the Navigational Pillar and his men, no outsiders would know how to run the equiptment. The destruction of the fourth tower brought an abrupt end to the traditional methods of running the Compass Room. Not only had the Pillar Aurther Fabel, and the vast majority of his team perished in the blast, but the documentation of operating and maintaining the rooms equiptment had been reduced to ash. Fabel's Death and Political Controversy With the death of Fabel, and the destruction of important documentation, there was only one person left in the Citadel to pick up the pieces. Julian DuPont, who had shared a very close relationship with the Navigational Pillar, being the only remaining person with a very basic knowledge of how to navigate the republic, was placed in charge of running the Compass Room. DuPont had been successful in doing exactly that until approximately ten years later. It was then that he locked the Compass Room off, not only from public, but from his remaining peers as well. With the two other Pillars perminantly removed from the room, DuPont appeared to take on a dictatorship roll when it came to navigating the bridge. Much to his peer's dismay, he refuses to listen to their recommendations as to where Pontis needs to dock, and has taken to navigating the city solely on what he himself deems necissary. Rumor's of DuPont's brash and seemingly random powertrip has spread beyond the Citadel walls, and into public knowledge, causing much unrest within the republic. Category:Architecture